Potter's spell on Hollywood | Pics: Crazy About Harry

New Delhi: It was with the coming of the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001 that fantasy genre found ground in Hollywood and World cinema.

Since then, the genre has explored more innovative ideas, and still the audiences do not seem to be have had enough of it.

Flying broomsticks, motorbikes and half-giants brought back the fun in the fantasy, Hollywood had been missing for long.

As boy-wizard Harry wove his goodwill magic on the viewers he also brought back the nostalgia of Mary Poppins - the last word on super-nannies and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - the wonder car.

Drawing heavily from both these films, Harry Potter proved to be the poster whiz kid for the 21st century. And soon Hollywood woke up to this new money-minting genre, the fantasy.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, followed close on its heels during the winter of 2001.

Revolving around the young Hobbit named Frodo entrusted with an ancient Ring, the film became a cult success winning multiple Oscars.

This combination of critical acclaim and commercial success only encouraged Lord of the Rings sequels and paved the way for a deluge of fantasy films.

With a potent mix of fantasy and folklore the ultimate pirate Jack Sparrow sailed into the theatres in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

The success of all the three films ensured their sequels were received with even greater enthusiasm.

So from 2002 to 2005 viewers were constantly shuttling between the world wizards, the mythical middle earth and marine fantasia.

And when four kids walked through a cupboard into the wonderland of Narnia audiences got a whiff of an alternative universe brimming with the white witch, fauns and Aslan's army of animals.

And fantasia got a new name in 2006 when Eragon released to packed theatres. It was the story of an orphaned Eragon, the protector of the last surviving dragon, Saphire.

The film resorts to the age-old fight of good over evil and this fight got a whole new meaning with the Oscar winning Spanish film Pan's Labyrinth

Released in 2006, this film set in post Civil War Spain tells the tale of the power of innocence through the young Ofelia and her ally, a fairy.

With Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and the soon to be released Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix hitting theatres, it only proves that fantastic fantasy genre in Hollywood will stay alive for long.

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#Harry Potter #Lord of the Rings #Pirrates of the Caribbean